The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-12-29
A REMARKABLE RAILROAD.
Wonderful Feats of Engineering Accom-
plished on lookout Mountain.

A RENIARKAB RAILROAD.
Wonderful Feats of Engineering Accom-
plished on Lookout Mountain.
The railroad that is now being built
up Lookout mountain will be, says the
Chattanooga Times, one of the most
wonderful lines in America. Feats of
engineering are being accomplished
which seem appalling, anu apparently
insurmountable obstacles are being
overcome i'll the construction of the
line.
A reporter, in company with one OF
the directors of the company. traversed
the entire road from end to end. No
one can conceive the extent of this
undertaking until ne has made a per-
sonal inspection, and even then il
appears that engineering skill willie be
at n loss to level the rugged face of
the mountain side and thread the pre-
cipitous activities.
The line commences near the south
ern outskirts of st. Elmo, about one and
oha-half miles from the Forest Hills
cemetery entrance. 1t ascends at a
grade of 180 feet to the mile, the ascent
being so regular that to the un-
practiced eye it seems almost q level
road bed. The belt railroad has been
extended from the st. Elmo station to
this point, and the road bed is graded
some distance further south, it being
the evident intention to build the line
to Blowing Springs, which is about one
half mile beyond. The grading on
this line has already been finished and
most of the track laying is complete.
Yesterday the Belt trains came within
hundred yards of the beginning OF
the mountain road.
The road ascends the mountain in q
northwesterly direction. The bed is
firm and almost wide enough for q
double track; the grading is complete
for about a quarter of mile. where
very heavy fill is now being made.
This work is nearly finished and the
connections will be made there during
the present week. From that point the
grading is finished to a deep cut, .
short distance from the point where
the railroad will pass under the st.
Elmo turn pike. A bridge has been
built overhead and the railroad is
about twelve feet below. At this point
the scenery begins to grow interesting
and the road passes between masses Of
rock and through picturesque cuts.
From the bridge the grading is well
under way for about a quarter of q
mile, to a high fill where the road will
cross the "Old turnpike" The fill at
that point is fully thirty feet. 1t
crosses the turnpike at grade, and
then turns westerly. From that point
to TIE Lookout incline, and for a
few hundred yards, is the most difficult
portion of the road. A cut of fully
twenty-five feet is being made Just be-
yond the turnpike, and few yards
further is Il fill tifty-seven feet in height,
and close at hand another cut of
twenty-seven feet, to open upon a
short cleared spot which will lead to
the bridge. This structure will pass
over the Lookout incline, its height
being about nineteen feet above the
tracks. Beyond this another very
heavy cut will be made, and for
several hundred feet very difficult
work will be encountered.
The road for about three thousand
feet from the turnpike viii be one of
the most picturesque. This work is
grading is nearly half finished.
road will run in westwardly direction
toward the Cravens place, ascending
at the regular grade of $50 feet to the
mile, the work for two miles being
comparatively light. 1t will wind
around the mountain in the direction
| of Sunset rock, and turn back Just
under the palisades, and pass under
the incline, following in a regular
ascent the face of the mountain to a
point beyond the Mountain hotel, and
then ascend in the gorge to point be-
tween the hotel and the Mountain home,
and thence by direct line to the park
and tie point. About one aud one
half miles of grading is finished near
| the top of the mountain. The road
passes through. beautiful section,
and at points is wildly beautiful. At
one point bowlder as large as the
Times building projects some distance
over the road, and in the distance IS a
perfect representation Of a human
face. 1t is fully fifty feet in height and
nearly as long. 1t seems that it Is
ready to topple over every moment,
| but it is held firm in the mountain side
where it has hung suspended for ages
The line passes through shady dells
skirting shaggy precipices frownine
bluffs, and threading the foot beetlins
cliffs.
The scenery is grand beyond de
scription. The reporter and tht
director, who have Travelled through
the Rockies on the wonderful Rit
Grande narrow-gauge, both pronounce
the work equal to the widest portions
of that remarkable railroad and tn
scenery equally as beautiful. While
lacks the awe-inspiring aspect whicl
snow-clad peaks rising ten thousan'
feet in the air convey, yet it surpasse
in picturesque beauty and in tn
lovely landscape that is unfolded
every foot of ascent presenting ne'
beauties, and lowering about all tn
halo of historic interest and tn
glamour of romantic legends.